I am a writer, editor, and teacher of creative writing — currently Writer in Residence at Seattle's Richard Hugo House, the country's third-largest literary center. Beginning in September 2008, I will be Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Pacific Lutheran University near Tacoma, Washington.

My nonfiction has appeared in English, Spanish, and French in more than thirty magazines and journals in seven countries. In many publications my photographs accompany my writing. (All the images on this website, unless otherwise noted, are mine.) I am currently completing a narrative nonfiction book, No Word for Welcome, which explores how economic globalization intersects with village life in southern Mexico.

I also work as a freelance editor, doing developmental and substantive editing for universities, nonprofit organizations, and individual authors. I co-edited Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide (Plume/Penguin, 2007). The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) Monthly says of Telling True Stories: "This is a book you'll speed through and quote to your friends, read over and over, and find new insights on each pass through."